Stepan Company

Stepan Company (NYSE: SCL) is a manufacturer of specialty chemicals headquartered in Northfield, Illinois. The company was founded in 1932 by Alfred C. Stepan, Jr.,[1] and has approximately 2,000 employees. It is currently run by his grandson, F. Quinn Stepan, Jr. The company describes itself as the largest global merchant manufacturer of anionic surfactants, which are used to enhance the foaming and cleaning capabilities of detergents, shampoos, toothpastes, and cosmetics.[3]

Stepan Company
TypePublic
NYSE: SCL
S&P 600 Component
IndustryChemicals
Founded1932
FoundersAlfred C. Stepan, Jr.[1]
Revenue US$1.925 billion (2017)[2]
US$146.2 million (2017)[2]
US$91.6 million (2017)[2]
Total assets US$1.471 billion (2017)[2]
Total equity US$741.1 million (2017)[2]
Number of employees
2,096 (2017)[2]
Websitewww.stepan.com

History

In its earliest days, Stepan Company was just Alfred C. Stepan Jr., who began distributing chemical products to control road dust on country roads in Illinois. His first location was a rented desk at Chicago’s North Pier Terminal.[4]

Products

Stepan produces a wide array of industrial chemicals used as raw materials to make end products in the following industries: Agricultural Solutions, Antimicrobial, Beverages, Construction, Dietary Supplements, Emulsion Polymerization, Flavors, Food, Household, Institutional, and Industrial Cleaning, Industrial Products, Laundry and Cleaning, Nutrition, Nutritional Powders, Oilfield, Personal Care, Pharmaceutical, Phthalic Anhydride, and Polyester Polyols (for coatings, adhesives, sealants, elastomers, powder coating resins, and rigid foam).[5]

Coca extraction

Coca-Cola includes a coca leaf extract as an ingredient prepared by a Stepan Company plant in Maywood, New Jersey.[6] The facility, which had been known as the Maywood Chemical Works, was purchased by Stepan in 1959.[7] The plant is the only commercial entity in the United States authorized by the Drug Enforcement Administration to import coca leaves, which come primarily from Peru via the National Coca Company. Approximately 100 metric tons of dried coca leaf are imported each year. The cocaine-free extract is sold to The Coca-Cola Company for use in soft drinks, while the cocaine is sold to Mallinckrodt, a pharmaceutical firm, for medicinal purposes.[8]

See also

References
  1. Goldsborough, Bob (10 Oct 2017). "Alfred Stepan, noted political scientist, dies". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  2. "2017 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". SEC. February 27, 2018.
  3. About Us, Stepan Company. Accessed June 14, 2007.
  4. "History | Stepan Company". www.stepan.com. Retrieved 2019-11-02.
  5. "Markets Stepan Serves | Stepan Company". www.stepan.com. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  6. Benson, Drew. "Coca kick in drinks spurs export fears", The Washington Times, April 20, 2004. Accessed June 14, 2007. "Coke dropped cocaine from its recipe around 1900, but the secret formula still calls for a cocaine-free coca extract produced at a Stepan Co. factory in Maywood, N.J. Stepan buys about 100 metric tons of dried Peruvian coca leaves each year, said Marco Castillo, spokesman for Peru's state-owned National Coca Co."
  7. History, Stepan Company. Accessed June 14, 2007.
  8. May, Clifford D. "How Coca-Cola Obtains Its Coca", The New York Times, July 1, 1988. Accessed April 11, 2008. "A Stepan laboratory in Maywood, N.J., is the nation's only legal commercial importer of coca leaves, which it obtains mainly from Peru and, to a lesser extent, Bolivia. Besides producing the coca flavoring agent sold to The Coca-Cola Company, Stepan extracts cocaine from the coca leaves, which it sells to Mallinckrodt Inc., a St. Louis pharmaceutical manufacturer that is the only company in the United States licensed to purify the product for medicinal use." See links for more information
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